Shadow Mated(43)

Adira clasped her hands together at her waist looking like someone straight from the prairie. “I cannot.”

“Do it,” Felix insisted. “Do it, and we will leave and never come back here again.” He glanced at Gash. “We’ll go our separate ways and call it done. A truce.”

“Even if I believed you, I cannot undo the curse. It’s impossible. As I said, you must accept your new circumstances and make the best of them. And perhaps… perhaps someday you can be happy like your brother is.”

Felix frowned hard, his eyes darting to find leverage. But he had none. As Adira said, he was completely powerless against Ouachita and the Sorcera.

He turned on Gash, stumbling to keep himself upright. “I won’t let this go, brother. I won’t let you go. You’re a shadow. You can’t escape it. But pops was wrong about you. You don’t need as much training as he thought. If you can do this to your blood, to the clan you swore allegiance to… you’re more heartless than I thought.”

Gash clenched his jaw so tight he heard it crack. “I could have killed you. I could have been free of you for good, but I let you live. I should kill you now…”

Felix turned when he noticed his cats melting back into the darkness. Leaving with their tails tucked as any bully does when their power is challenged. To Gash’s horror, Felix gave him his back, and what he saw there twisted his stomach into a million knots. Thick ribbons of scar tissue stretched from his shoulders to his waist to form an S.

Felix had never been so careless with his back. Not with any of the cats, but especially not with Gash. And now, he knew exactly why. It explained why Felix never shifted human before the clan. Neither had pops. Said it was lowly for a shadow leader to show his back.

But that was bullshit wasn’t it.

“Who took your skin?” Gash managed, but he already knew.

The Alley Cats were backing away, scowling at Felix like he was the traitor instead of Gash. And for all intents and purposes, he was. He’d led them into a battle they couldn’t win, and now they would suffer without their animals.

Felix twisted around, his face a mask of frustration and fury Gash couldn’t hope to interpret. “Who do you think? Pops. He made me, I made you. And this isn’t over,” he hissed, backing away.

“It’s over,” Nastia boomed. Gash snapped his gaze to the Sorcera, shocked to see her eyes almost glowing with her anger. “It’s well and done. You will do no more damage to these people. And if you ever wish to be redeemed, you’ll accept it now, and be on your way.”

As if her words were a catalyst, rain dumped from the sky in sheets, drenching the clearing and everyone in it.

“Go,” Magic yelled across to Felix. “And don’t ever come back, ya asshole.”

Gash watched his brother duck back against the blackness of the forest, his eyes haunted and promising revenge.

Should have killed him.

“We’re safe,” Bailey whispered, clinging to him. She kissed his chest, trembling with leftover adrenaline.

Gash nodded, calling over to Adira, “Can he find a way to break the curse?”

She cocked her head. “He can. But it has a built in safety mechanism. The curse will only be broken if his heart finds light.”

“What does that mean?”

“If he turns good,” Mirena clarified. “A changed heart is the only cure for this curse. And if that happens, he would no longer be a threat to you.”

“If,” Gash murmured.

Mirena nodded. “If.”

He sighed, his shoulders bowing in relief. The threat to his family was really over. Felix didn’t have it in him to break the curse, and with it, he was weak.

The clan gathered around the Sorcera, their relief palpable in the air.

“Had me worried there for a minute, Sunshine,” Mason grumbled, smirking at Adira. “But you did good. Real good. Even with all the manhood hanging out.”

She pursed her lips in response, and he let out a chuckle.

“We nearly failed,” Mirena muttered. “It was only because of Nastia that the curse worked.”

Gash looked around, taking in the wounds his clanmates wore. They were all beat up a bit, but nothing life threatening. Thames looked like he’d taken the worst of it when three cats had come at him at once. Streaks of red ran down his back, but he seemed more angry than hurt, his face screwed up in a snarl.

“Five hundred and eight,” Nastia slurred, and then collapsed, only missing the ground because Theron was nearby and lunged to catch her.

“Shit,” he murmured.

“What’s wrong with her?” Doc asked, rushing forward.